


We will find a way

by Sister_Rainbow



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-04 11:23:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6655939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sister_Rainbow/pseuds/Sister_Rainbow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The events on this story all happen post “Enemy at the Gate” in a possible season 6, probably season 7, since they also follow the events created on “Atlantis Rising: - the Virtual series” the Virtual season 6 of Stargate Atlantis. So for a better understanding of my story, you might want to read “Atlantis Rising” first. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just to clarify a few things, I know that unfortunately Elizabeth was presumed dead, that’s right presumed dead on the show. I invite you all to please read this virtual continuation of Stargate Atlantis, a virtual season 6 called “Atlantis Rising”, and you will see that my stories are kind of a follow up of that. :)

### Atlantis conference room

“Well that Ancient ship, the Travellers found on the Nibor system, sure seems to be worth a visit.” Woolsey said.

 “Yeah, definitely.” Rodney begun. “But unfortunately with most of the science teams busy with the discoveries from M7L-787, there isn’t a spare team available to go off-world right now.” Rodney said sounding a little bit frustrated.

 “Well, but according to the Travellers’ intel, the ship seems to be mostly operational.” Woolsey said. “The only reason they asked for our help was because they still need someone to initialise the remaining of the systems in order for the ship to be able to fly.”

 “You mean someone with the ATA gene”. John spoke.

 “That’s right, Colonel.” Woolsey replied. “There is also that strange lab on board they don’t seem to be able to figure out what it is for.”

 “Hence the need for one of our science teams to be on board that ship as soon as possible.” Rodney said.

 “Definitely.” Zelenka added.

 “Well, in that case, if the science teams can’t go there, why don’t we bring the ship here instead?” John suggested.

 “That thought had crossed my mind.” Woolsey said. “But since we are short on personnel right now, the only pilot available is you, Colonel. But I will also need you to be here for the meeting with the Ascane. They are a military society and it would be better to introduce them to our military commander as soon as possible.”

 “Yeah, but they will only be here in two days.” Rodney interrupted. “There will be more than enough time for Sheppard to get to the Ancient ship and bring it back here.”

 “So what are we waiting for?” Sheppard said. “I am ready to go.”

 “I was thinking that maybe Dr. Weir could go along with you, Colonel.” Woolsey said. “She can begin the translation of the logs from the Ancient ship, while the ship is being brought here to Atlantis. I am guessing it will make things more expedite.”

 “Yes, because in that way, once the ship gets here, we can immediately start working on it, without having to wait for the linguistics department’s team to go on board and do the translations”. Zelenka said.

 “There is only one problem.” Rodney interrupted. “Elizabeth is off-world right now.”

 “She should be returning shortly.” Woolsey said. “Meanwhile, Colonel, I guess you could go ahead and start preparing a Jumper.”

 Woolsey ended the meeting there and they all started leaving the conference room.

 Suddenly, Chuck’s announcement, of an off-world activation, is heard.

 “Chuck” Woolsey said approaching the technician.

 “It’s Major Lorne’s IDC, Sir.” Chuck said.

 A few moments later, the figures of Major Lorne, Elizabeth, Teyla, Kanaan and a few Marines, emerged from the shimmering blue puddle.

 “How are the negotiations with the Pulgari?” Woolsey asked to the newly arrived group.

 “Everything seems to be going well.” Elizabeth answered, not sounding totally convinced. “At least according to the Pulgari’s governor.”

 “I guess we can say that everything went well as far as the Pulgari goes.” Teyla added.

 “We all know how stubborn the Pulgari can be.” This time it was Kanaan who spoke.

 “So does Elizabeth.” John said smirking.

 “Well,” Elizabeth said with a smile and a raised eyebrow, her gaze on John.

 Woolsey cleared his throat.

 “Colonel Sheppard will be departing shortly for the Nibor system, in the hopes of bringing the Ancient ship, found by the Travellers, to Atlantis.” Woolsey started. “Dr. Weir, I know this is a bit sudden, but I would like you to go along with Colonel Sheppard. 

 “While I am bringing the Ancient ship here, you can begin the translations of the ship’s logs, in order to make things more expedite. This way, when we get here, the science’s teams will be able to go on board, with no further delays.” John explained when he noticed Elizabeth’s puzzling look.

 “I have yet to download the report related with the Pulgari’s negotiations, but after that, I am all yours.” Elizabeth said, looking at John.

 “Do not worry, Elizabeth. Kanaan and I can do that for you.” Teyla offered with a smile.

 “That’s settled then.” Woolsey said.

 “When do we leave?” Elizabeth asked turning to John.

 “In an hour.” John replied. Turning then to Major Lorne, John ordered. “Major, I want you to assemble some teams, that will then accompany the science teams on board the Ancient ship.

 “Yes, Sir.” Major Lorne acknowledged.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sure hope this multi chapter story will meet your expectations.  
> John and Elizabeth alone, on their way to an Ancient ship. ;) Easy mission, hmm…  
> Thank you so much to my friend Janus for the precious help with this story. :)

**Jumper**

“You’re awfully quiet.” John noticed.

“Oh, I am sorry. I am trying to figure out how should I start the translations on this Ancient ship. I am assuming, it must be a research ship. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any point on having a lab on board.” Elizabeth said looking from her tablet to John.

“I guess.” John said. “But I am pretty sure you will have no problems with it.”

John glanced over his shoulder, at the backpack full of books, Elizabeth had brought from Atlantis.

“Yeah…” Elizabeth said with a sheepish smile. John smiled back at her.

Someone trying to hail them interrupted them.

“This is Lt. Colonel John Sheppard.” John said in reply to the hail.

“I am Kytoria from the Travelers.” A woman said. Her image was now showing on the HUD.

“We came here because of the Ancient ship you…” John began.

“Of course, please follow my ship.” Kytoria said interrupting curtly.

“Okay.” John said drawling.

The connection between the two ships was terminated.

“That was interesting.” Elizabeth said.

“Yeah…” John agreed.

Some moments later, John and Elizabeth found themselves alone aboard the Ancient ship. Kytoria returned to her own ship, after explaining that she has orders to escort the Ancient Ship back to Atlantis. By now, John had already activated some of the remaining systems the Travelers hadn't been able to initialise due to the lack of the ATA gene, so both he and Elizabeth were scrutinizing the outside of the mysterious lab. Inside, they came across some sort of interface.

“Let’s see if I can initialise it.” John said.

Elizabeth stepped back and John moved a little bit closer to the interface. It immediately activated, once John waved his hand over it. Elizabeth smiled and her eyes now seemed to be full of excitement. She then approached the interface, where a lot of data, in Ancient, could now be seen.

“Wow!” John said.

“Definitely wow!” Elizabeth agreed.

Elizabeth grabbed her tablet and tried to connect it to the interface.

“You know, this will probably take some time.” Elizabeth spoke to John.

“Okay.” John said drawling. “I should probably head to the bridge anyway, to see if we, or I, can make this ship fly us back to Atlantis.”

“Have fun, captain.” Elizabeth said smiling.

“See you in a bit.” John said and started down the hall towards the bridge.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to my friend Janus for the precious help with this story. :)

The Ancient ship was now heading back through hyperspace towards Atlantis. John had set their course and engaged the autopilot, so now he was heading back towards the lab where he had left Elizabeth.

He should check on her, she had been awfully quiet. He picked up the pace, and his heart started beating a little bit faster. He had checked the Ancient ship with the biometric sensor and there was no one else but them aboard the ship. Then again, he should have learned by now that here in Pegasus, anything is possible.

John felt relieved when he saw that Elizabeth was still there, near the interface, unharmed, just very quiet. He approached her, doing his best not to startle her. She seemed to be in some kind of a trance. 

“Elizabeth…?” John said.

“John!” Elizabeth replied, snapping from her deep trance.

 “What’s wrong?” John asked.

 “Good, you’re here. I was about to call you.” Elizabeth said with a grin.

 John could tell, just by looking at her and by the tone in her voice, that she had found something good.

 “According to the database… this ship… was one of the ships the Ancients used to destroy Asuras. You know…the first time, when the Ancients decided to destroy all the Replicators, once they decided to end the experiment they were doing with them.” Elizabeth explained.

 “Really?!” John said in astonishment.

 John opened his mouth and then closed it.

 “Does that mean there’s a chance that this ship might be infected with nanites?!” John said, freaking out a bit.

 “No... At least I don't think so, because according to the database, this ship was used only for software development and upload, it doesn't have a nanite-generating machine. And besides, if it was infected, I think we'd know about it by now, or at least the Travelers would, since they found the ship and boarded it some time ago.” Elizabeth explained.

 “I dunno if that's good news, or not... might explain why they left no one of their people aboard...” John said.

 “That would only make sense if they already knew about the contents of the database, and they lack both the knowledge of the Ancient language and the ATA gene.” Elizabeth interrupted.

 “I guess you're right, but after everything that happened with the Replicators, I'd suggest a bit of caution.” John said.

 John approached the interface, standing now beside Elizabeth. Sometimes John still couldn’t believe they had actually found her. So much time had passed that no one, in Atlantis, ever would have expected to see the _real_ Elizabeth Weir being returned to them. 

 “And there’s more.” Elizabeth said. “According to the data, this lab was used to store the assimilation research archive.”

 “You mean…” John trailed off.

 “Yes!” Elizabeth said with excitement.

 “You think Rodney will be able to figure out something to help you?” John said smiling and looking at Elizabeth’s excitement.

 “John, do you know what this means?!” Elizabeth said grinning.

 John could tell she hadn’t really paid any attention to what he was trying to say.

 “Yeah…” John said chuckling. Never the less, he was feeling a little bit incredulous about their discovery.

 Elizabeth suddenly turned to him and putting her hands around his neck, she embraced him tightly. John, after a moment, embraced her back.

 “John, I…” Elizabeth whispered close to John’s ear.

 “I know.” John said smiling into her hair.

 Elizabeth held him even tighter. John was feeling surprised by what she was doing. Since she had returned, she didn’t seem to like much physical contact.

 John suddenly pulled away from the hug, and gazed at her, his hands rising to her arms. He was now so close to her, he could feel her breath on his skin. Elizabeth looked up at him, searching his face for a clue to his thoughts right there, on that very moment. It didn’t take her long to find the answer she was looking for. Because right there, on that instant, John’s lips descended on her own.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you also so much to my friend Janus for the precious help with this chapter. :)

John and Elizabeth were forced to break the kiss when they heard something that resembled an explosion from the rear part of the ship and suddenly, an alarm sounded. The Ancient ship had immediately dropped out of hyperspace.

“What was that?” Elizabeth asked. “What happened?”

“It seems we dropped out of hyperspace.” John said, pulling away from her.

“How’s that possible?” Elizabeth asked once again “We aren’t even near Atlantis yet! It should take us at least a few more hours…”

“Something is not right…” John said. “I need to get back to the bridge.”

“I’m going with you.” Elizabeth said.

John hesitated for a moment. “Okay. Let’s go.” John finally said.

# Bridge

“You were right; we dropped out way too soon.” Elizabeth said.

“I'd have to say - this time I’m not glad to be...Oh, crap!” John said and then continued. “The sensors just picked up a Wraith hive ship closing in on our position!”

Suddenly the Wraith hive ship opened fire on the Ancient ship.

“Not good, not good!” John said. “The initial hit took out our drones before I had time to raise our shield!”

“What the hell are these Wraiths doing here, in the middle of nowhere?!” Elizabeth said.

“We can ask them later! Right now, we need to find a way to fix our weapons!” John said in reply to Elizabeth’s question.

They were hit once again, but the shield was holding for the moment.

“I need to get to the drone chair!” John said and then added. “Stay on the bridge and see what you can do about the drones!”

“I’m on it!” Elizabeth said walking towards a console.

Meanwhile, John was on his way to the Chair room.

# Chair room

John had reached the Chair room and was contacting Elizabeth over the radio. “I’m in the chair, how’s it going?”

Elizabeth’s reply came promptly over the radio. “I’m working on it! Give me a second…”

“Sure, take your time.” John said wryly.

“Okay, try it now!” Elizabeth finally said.

John was trying to fire the drones, but nothing seemed to be happening.

“Damn it!” John said. “I had it for a moment, but there’s something wrong with the…”

“John, the drones’ controls have just shut down completely…” Elizabeth said, interrupting him.

“Great!” John said.

“I’m sorry John, there’s nothing I can do!” Elizabeth said after a while.

“Try again! We have to blast them, ‘cause without the hyperdrive, we can’t escape!” John said. 

“John, I could push these buttons at random for hours and still not find a way to solve our problems.” Elizabeth said. “If McKay was here, I’m sure he could fix it in a minute, but I’m not an engineer, nor a scientist.”

“There must be something we can do!” John said and then added. “We've got guns on this ship, right?”

“What do you mean?” Elizabeth said in a surprised tone.

Elizabeth could sense his frustration, but she could just as easily see the wheels turning in his head.

“This is an Aurora-class ship; it has to have some other weapons on it!” John said and he continued. “I’ve seen the Replicators fire some sort of energy-pulse cannons from their ships many times.”

Elizabeth was beginning to see John’s point. “Just a moment…” She said and then made an input into the console on the bridge.

“You’re right, there are multiple cannons and at least half of them seem to still be working, but they have to be operated from here.” Elizabeth explained.

“Well, do it.” John instructed.

“I can’t! I don’t know how.” Elizabeth said. “And they also need someone with the Ancient gene to initialise them.”

“What?!” John asked with a surprised tone in his voice. “I’ve initialised the ship’s weapons’ systems already!”

“I don’t know, but you better come up here fast!” Elizabeth said.

“Dammit! I’m on my way!” John said, a tinge of irritation in his voice. “How’s our shield holding?”

“Not so good, but it seems that the Wraith are not hitting us with their full arsenal.” Elizabeth replied. “They probably want to drain our shield and board the ship to take as many of us as possible, alive.”

John was once again on his way back to the bridge. Still maintaining radio contact with Elizabeth, he said, wryly. “In that case, they will be disappointed with a skeletal-crew lunch!”

“Not exactly the kind of joke I would laugh at!” Elizabeth said. There was a funny tone in her voice.

# Bridge

John was now entering the bridge. “I hope to spare them the trouble of finding out.” He said. “Let’s see what these cannons can do!”

John put his hand on a console and activated the ship’s pulse cannons. The console lighted up and displayed a targeting system.

“Alright, I’ve targeted their ship and I’m returning fire now!” John said.

The Ancient ship started firing a volley of yellowish energy-bolts towards the Wraith hive ship. After a minute, the hive ship started taking significant damage and in response, it started firing on the Ancient ship with all available cannons. Soon, the Ancient ship started taking severe hits all along its length. The shield was still holding, but it started fluctuating around the middle areas of the hull.

“Our shield is at 10%!” John announced.

“Are we gonna make it?” Elizabeth asked.

“I hope so!” John said, optimistically.

John was now looking towards the Wraith hive ship. “C’mon you overgrown cockroach, die already!”

Suddenly, Kytoria’s ship dropped out of hyperspace and positioned itself between the Ancient ship and the Wraith hive ship, in order to somewhat block the hive’s fire.

“Colonel Sheppard, this is Kytoria.” Kytoria’s voice was heard over the comm.

“I'm kind of busy right now!” John said in reply to Kytoria. “See if you can take out their weapons, our shield is almost gone!”

Immediately after, John saw a console suddenly sparking, really close to where Elizabeth was standing; it started to smoke. Elizabeth backed away from it.

“Colonel, you have to jump into hyperspace, immediately. We must not allow the destruction of this ship.” Kytoria said over the comm.

“The idea has crossed my mind.” John retorted. “But our hyperdrive had some sort of odd malfunction and we dropped out of hyperspace right into an ambush!”

“You should have repaired it and jumped back into hyperspace, instead of risking the destruction of the ship!” Kytoria said with a snappish tone of voice.

“I’d love to, but they started shooting at us the moment we dropped out of hyperspace! John pointed out sharply. “I didn’t exactly have time to play with the funky hyperdrive! Now, could you please…”

The Ancient ship’ shield was almost depleted and there were severe fluctuations all over the ship. Some of the hits started penetrating the shield and damaging the ship’s hull.

“Colonel, we don’t have time to debate now!” Kytoria said. “Access the hyperdrive’s controls and reroute the power through the auxiliary conduits! It should bring the hyperdrive back online!”

“What?!” John and Elizabeth exchanged perplexed looks; the technical language of the instructions baffled them. “You don’t even know what’s wrong with the damn…”

“Trust me, it will work!” Kytoria said interrupting him. “As soon as you can, jump into hyperspace. Meanwhile, we will try to hold them off.”

Kytoria’ ship started firing on the Wraith hive ship and drawing their fire.

“Hope you’re right!” John said. “Keep firing with everything you've got!”

John made several inputs into the console and successfully rerouted the power to the hyperdrive.

“Is it working?” Elizabeth asked.

“I think so.” John replied. “We are ready to jump!”

“Then, let’s get the hell outta here!” Elizabeth said.

“Sounds like a plan!” John said and then added. “I'll be damned if I’ll let some Wraith take this ship away from us!”

The Ancient ship jumped into hyperspace, while Kytoria’ ship was still fighting with the Wraith hive ship.

“That was close…” John said admittedly. “I have to check the damage we took during the battle.”

A few minutes later.

“Hmmm…” John murmured. “Not exactly what I was hoping to find…” He paused.

“How’s the ship doing?” Elizabeth enquired.

John pointed to a display. “Well, it’s not too bad, but we lost the shield and we also took some pretty good hits here, in the middle section of the hull.” John explained.

While John was showing to Elizabeth the damage on the display of the ship’ schematic, another alarm sounded and they once again dropped out of hyperspace. Immediately after, the ship slowed down, and a strong impact, from the ship's middle section, was heard, and the whole ship shook like it was hit by something.

“Now what?” Elizabeth asked with displeasure.

John approached another console. “It seems we dropped out of hyperspace... Again!”

Elizabeth was looking at the readings. “We should probably investigate this matter.” Elizabeth offered. “It sounded much worse than the first time.”

They started down the corridor towards the engineering room.

“Why would a Wraith hive ship be here anyway?” Elizabeth asked. “I thought there was no Wraith activity in this area.”

“Beats me.” John said. “But we need to get as far as possible from here and fast!”

# Engineering room

“It seems the hyperdrive was hit during the attack.” John said while scanning the hyperdrive. “It’s not too badly damaged, but it will need a few repairs before it’s operable again. Without them, it probably won't get us very far.”

“What now?” Elizabeth asked. “What are our options?”

“We’ll see…” John replied and then paused. “Come on.” He then said to Elizabeth. “Let’s get back to the bridge and determine our current position.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to find out why is the ship mysteriously dropping out of hyperspace, you will just have to stick around. ;) :D 
> 
> Thank you also so much to my friend Janus for the precious help with this chapter. :)

**Bridge**

“I'll try to find a nearby planet with a Stargate, preferably one in range of sublights.” John said while searching through the ancient star charts in the ship's database. “It may take a while though.”

“Let me help you.” Elizabeth said seating behind another console.

After a while:

“This sucks.” John said, a bit frustrated.

“Still nothing?” Elizabeth asked.

“There seems to be none.” John was definitely frustrated.

“Same here, I haven't found any suitable planet.” Elizabeth admitted.

“At least not in range of sublights.” John said rubbing the back of his neck

“What are you trying to say?” Elizabeth enquired.

“Well, there IS a planet with a gate in this small corner of the galaxy.” John said pointing at a dot representing a planet with a Stargate on the star map. “The only problem is that we’d have to make a short jump into hyperspace to get there and I'm not sure the ship can take it without some repairs.”

“What’s that?” Elizabeth said, noticing a new light blinking on the main console.

“Oh, crap!” John said realizing that their problems were far from over.

“What is it?” Elizabeth said a little bit alarmed.

“Now we’re venting atmosphere!” John explained.

“How bad?” Elizabeth wanted to know.

John was now looking at the console’ screen and was pointing at the red blinking sections in the middle of the ship. “I need to seal off these sections immediately!” John said. He then entered a few instructions on the console. “There! That should hold the leak for now. Or at least slow it down a bit.”

“Maybe we could simply leave the ship here, go back to the Jumper and try to sit this one out until help arrives, or at least until we figure out what to do?” Elizabeth suggested.

“That **would** be the safest thing to do, but the hangar bay is open to space and we can't get to the Jumper...” John said and then continued.  “As much as I hate it, we'll have to take the ship into hyperspace.”

“May I ask how you imagine doing that with a broken hyperdrive?” Elizabeth asked apprehensively.

“It’s damaged, but not completely blown.” John said reassuringly. “There's a chance it could get us there.”

“And then what?” Elizabeth said unsurely. “Without the jumper we can't reach the gate.”

“Well, we could try to **somehow**... use the ship's computer and comm system to activate the DHD on the planet, and get it to dial Atlantis, so we can radio for help.” John offered.

“Assuming the gate isn't in space... and that we manage to do what you suggested.” Elizabeth was giving John a contemplative look.

“Yeah, there's **that**.” John granted. “But if we sit here for too long it’s not gonna matter because we lost life support as well, and if we start leaking air again... well, you _know_.”

“In that case, let’s cross our fingers and hope we get to that planet.” Elizabeth said adjusting herself in her seat.

“ **Okay** , hold on to your seat and cross your fingers.” John was now entering a few instructions on the console. “We'll get there... I hope.”

The Ancient ship jumped into hyperspace.

The bridge of the ship was vibrating and shaking, and a few wall consoles sparked.

“Is the hyperdrive gonna make it?” Elizabeth enquired.

“Hyperdrive's doing good, the ship’ structural integrity is our biggest problem now!” John said. “Hang on, we're almost there!”

In a minute or so, the Ancient ship jumped out of hyperspace and in a few seconds a strong impact from the ship's middle section was heard again and the whole ship shook like it was hit by something.

“What was that?!” Elizabeth cried out suddenly in surprise.

“I don't know, but we're venting atmosphere again and fast!” John observed. “Hang on, we're going in!”

“Please don't tell me you're planning to land the ship on the planet?!” Elizabeth asked.

“I'll have to! The hyperdrive and whole middle section is now open to space as well! If we make it down in one piece, the repairs will have to be made on the ground!” John explained. “Travelers will definitely have fun putting this ship back together!”

John set a course for the planet. Once they reached its orbit, John made a quick scan to determine the location of the Stargate, but to his unpleasant surprise, he couldn't locate it.

“This can't be right!!” John exclaimed.

“What?!” Elizabeth asked in surprise.

“I can't find the Stargate!” John stated.

“Is there a problem with the sensors?!” Elizabeth wanted to know.

“No, they're working fine.” John confirmed. “ But they should have located the gate within seconds if it’s there and is operable.” John rubbed the back of his neck. “Give me a second!”

John scanned the entire surface and soon he found a suitable place to land the ship.

“Are you sure about this?” Elizabeth asked from her seat behind a console. “I mean, are you sure that this is how you want to...?”

“At this point, we’ve got nothing to lose!” John said with a shrug and a chuckle.

“Besides, how hard can it be?!” He added.

“You tell me!” Elizabeth said.

John smiled a bit. “It'll be a walk in the park!”

“If you say so!” Elizabeth said, looking straight ahead and holding herself to the arms of her chair.

John looked at Elizabeth. “Alright. It’s show time.” John rubbed his hands. “Let's land this thing!”

Elizabeth nodded at him smiling reassuringly.

“Here we go!” John announced.

The Ancient ship, in spite of the inertial dampeners, was now strongly shaking. Suddenly, the ship entered the atmosphere and was now flying like a giant meteor towards the surface. A few moments later, they were close to the landing site.

“Brace for impact!” John yelled.

Shortly after, the ship crash-landed and started sliding on the ground, mowing down everything in its path, until it finally came into a complete stop.

“Well, that was different.” John said smirking. “And actually not so bad.” John was feeling proud of himself.

“Right... we're still in one piece.” Elizabeth said with a raised eyebrow. “Can we still use the sensors to try to find the gate, in case it’s buried or inoperable for whatever reason?”

“From orbit - no problem, though it would take time.” John explained and then continued. “Down here, the sensors will be limited to a small portion of the planet.” John activated the ship’ scanners. “While we're at it, we might as well check the neighbourhood for Wraith or possible surprises.”

John scanned the planet for the Stargate and for life signs. “I’m picking up some life signs further to the East of our position... no luck with the gate though.”

“Considering our situation and supplies, how long do you think we can remain here?” Elizabeth asked.

“A couple of weeks, but hopefully we won’t be here that long.” John said. “Kytoria will probably figure out this is the closest planet with a gate, and once that happens, she will get us out of here in no time.”

"Assuming she survived the battle with the Wraith and was able to escape." Elizabeth said a little bit skeptical.

"Yeah...." John agreed. "But right now, we’ve to figure out what’s the best course of action."

"Well, let’s see: if we start by assuming that we can't find the Stargate on this planet…" Elizabeth began.

"Our only other option would be to use the ship' subspace comm to contact Atlantis." John continued.

"Which also might mean revealing our position to the hive that attacked us." Elizabeth added following his reasoning.

“Or, we can take the Jumper and try to find the Stargate." John offered.

"Tell you what, why don't you go and fly the jumper out, while I check the sensors for human life signs and a possible settlement." Elizabeth suggested.

"Sure, I'll go get the jumper out, but why would you expect humans here?" John asked.

"The Ancient star chart says that this planet has a Stargate, or at least had one at some point, so it is possible that it was also inhabited." Elizabeth explained. "And it might still be."

"Good thinking." John admitted. "If it is, maybe the locals would know where the gate is... or was. I'll go get the Jumper."

A few minutes later, John entered the hangar bay and saw the Jumper turned over on one side and it looked like it has had a crash-landing of its own.

"What the hell?!" John exclaimed to himself, half way between puzzlement and anger. He reached for his ear to key his radio. "Elizabeth, can you run a quick diagnostic of the hangar bay' systems and check the logs?"

Elizabeth's voice came promptly over the radio. "Why, what happened?" Her voice was calm and soothing.

"The Jumper looks like someone was playing a game of football with it!" John described over the radio link.

"I'm running the diagnostic now." Elizabeth continued over the radio. "Does it look like it can fly?"

"I dunno, I'll have to check... **if** I manage to get inside." John said over the radio, while examining the Jumper from the outside. "But I'm not too optimistic."

"The logs indicate that the hangar bay lost all power 2 hours ago." Elizabeth informed. "Probably when we were attacked."

"That would explain the Jumper's condition and the structural damage in this area." John deduced.

"How so?" Elizabeth inquired.

"After the battle, do you remember the noise we heard, every time we dropped outta hyperspace?" John started to explain. "Like if the ship was being hit hard by something?"

"Yes, what about it?" Elizabeth asked.

"That was the sound of our Jumper slamming into the hangar's bulkheads!" John affirmed. "After the hangar bay lost power, both inertial dampeners and artificial gravity were off line."

"So, that explains the structural damage and why the ship was venting atmosphere." Elizabeth said in retrospective.

"Yes, it seems so." John agreed. "But it still doesn't explain why we dropped outta hyperspace right into an ambush! Or how Kytoria knew, in an instant, what's wrong with the hyperdrive and how to bypass it."

"She probably familiarized herself well with the ship' systems." Elizabeth assumed. "This ship was meant to be her new ship, remember?"

John was feeling very skeptical. "Maybe..."

"And she did stay behind, to hold the Wraith off, while we escaped." Elizabeth continued.

"All that stands, but it’s kinda an odd coincidence, don't you think?" John said, still in doubt. "And also, her almost immediate appearance after we were attacked."

"You think the encounter with that hive wasn't a coincidence?" Elizabeth asked.

"I don't know what to think anymore." John replied. "But I'd like to check something out." John suddenly had an idea.

"Okay, I'll run the diagnostic and see the logs from just before the attack." Elizabeth informed.

"You do that and let me know if you find something interesting. I'll go check the hyperdrive." John said over the radio, while exiting the hangar bay. " I want to get to the bottom of this."

A few moments later, John was in a corridor leading to the hyperdrive section. He stopped near a bulkhead that had been destroyed by an explosion, and by the looks of it, the explosion severed the main power conduit between the hyperdrive and the ship's power generator.

Elizabeth was, once again, contacting John over the radio. "I've just checked the logs." She told him. "And it looks like the sensors detected some sort of structural damage, at the time we got out of hyperspace, just before the battle. But there's no indication of any malfunction or power surge that could have caused it."

"Yeah, I'm looking at the spot right now and I think this was no accident." John observed. “Someone blew this up on purpose.”

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, incredulous.

"The explosion was too small and focused to be an accident." John clarified. "Someone placed a charge here, behind the bulkhead and activated it to blow the power conduit, so that we would drop outta hyperspace, right into an ambush!"

"Who could have done something like that?" Elizabeth asked.

"I have no idea…" John replied. "But I don't like it one bit!"

"The good news is." Elizabeth told him. "I've located human life signs, not far from here."

"How many?" John wanted to know.

"A few dozens in a small area." Elizabeth said. "Possibly a settlement."

"Okay." John said optimistically and rubbing his hands together. "For now, let’s go check out the folks from this planet. We can leave the Jumper for later."

"I'm on my way." Elizabeth told him and then disconnected the radio link.

John and Elizabeth met in front of the airlock that would lead them outside.

"The settlement is an half hour walk from here." Elizabeth informed. "Let's hope we can establish good relations and a possible alliance with them."

"Maybe we should start by asking them about the Stargate first." John suggested. "And from a safe distance. I'd like to try contacting Atlantis ASAP, just in case someone wants to surprise us again."

"Like who?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, I don't know." John replied. "Maybe if the locals aren't as friendly as we hope, or in case the Wraith decide to show up."

"Well..." Elizabeth began. "I suppose you could also try your luck with the Jumper on your own, and I could stay here with the ship."

"I'll keep that in mind." John didn't like that idea much either.

Elizabeth smiled. "If there’s no Stargate on this planet anymore, the chances of a Wraith attack are very slim. I would be fine on my own, while you search for the gate.”

"I’ll consider that idea, once and after we meet these people." John said looking at Elizabeth.

"Fair enough." Elizabeth conceded. "Shall we go then?" Elizabeth didn’t want to waste anymore time.


	6. Chapter 6

John and Elizabeth started walking towards the village that was located East of their landing site. The path, towards the settlement, laid along upon the bank of a stream and they were walking side by side, in silence.

When John used the Ancient’ ship’s life sign detector from orbit, he couldn’t really distinguish what sort of life signs the sensors were actually detecting; they could be just life signs of animals - or worse, Wraith! - the only thing he was certain off, and according to the Ancient ship’s database, was that this planet had, or had had, a Stargate at some point, and since Pegasus was the Ancients’ domain for millions of years, there was no way the detailed star charts on their ships would be wrong.

But John didn’t know the exact location of the Stargate, and the fact the Ancient ship’s computer hadn’t been able to establish a subspace link with the gate, made John assume that the Stargate, on this planet, was either disabled or disconnected from the DHD, which meant that without a thorough scan of the planet, that would take some time, he would never be able to pinpoint its location with accuracy. Nevertheless, even if he would know the exact location of the Stargate, the bad condition of the Ancient ship, one he hoped it would be possible to salvage and repair later on, had forced him to pick a good landing site away from the Stargate.

Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by a low rumble that alerted John. "I'm sorry, that was me... I didn't have time to eat anything before we left Atlantis." There was another rumble coming from Elizabeth’ stomach.

John smirked, looking over at Elizabeth. "Okay, I guess we can stop for a few minutes." He studied the scenery in front of them and he then looked for a place for them to seat. "Shall we eat something?" He asked.

Elizabeth could see the trees swaying under a brilliant blue sky; a light, warm breeze brushed her cheek. She closed her eyes. "This planet is hot." Elizabeth said while pulling out a power bar from her vest.

While they were eating, an awkward silence fell between them once again which Elizabeth didn't dare try to fill. She darted a glance at John; he was looking at her. Elizabeth's heart was hammering so hard in her chest now.

Suddenly their attention moved to the stream they were now observing ahead of them. The sound of what seemed like children’s playing, reached their ears.

"Take cover." John said, his P-90 at ready. A small child emerged from the middle of the trees and started running towards the stream.

John and Elizabeth walked towards the stream, where they saw a few children playing in the water, which definitely indicated that they were getting closer to a settlement, because no parents in Pegasus would ever allow their children to play too far away from home.

“Children?” Elizabeth said.

John and Elizabeth looked somewhat surprised with the children’s presence, since they weren’t even sure if there were actually any humans on the surface of this planet.  

Once the children spotted them, they started looking at them, puzzled, but they didn't seem to fear them.

“Hello.” Elizabeth said, waving her hand in the air.

“Hello.” A small girl, who seemed to be the youngest of them, replied, giggling.

“Nara!” An older boy said. “You know; you’re not supposed to talk to strangers.”

“Don't be afraid, we mean you no harm.” Elizabeth said. “I’m Elizabeth and this is John.” Elizabeth pointed to John. John nodded at the children.

“What are you kids doing here, in the middle of the forest?” John asked them.

“We were going to see the meteor that fell from the sky!” Nara said all excited.

“Meteor?” Elizabeth wondered.

“That wasn’t a meteor you saw; it was our ship crashing in the forest.” John explained.

“A ship? You fell from the sky?” The older girl spoke.

“Yes, we sure did.” Elizabeth confirmed.

“We had a small… accident with our ship.” John said. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, at John’s honesty. “We need to fix it, but for that, we'll first have to contact our friends.”

“Can we go play in your ship?” Nara said, her big green eyes were all excited and her curly hair was bouncing up and down.

“Nara, I told you…” The older boy approached them, taking Nara by the hand.

“Calm down, Cabal.” The older girl said. She then came nearer to both John and Elizabeth. “I don't recognise your clothing. Are you Travelers?” The girl asked.

“What makes you say that?” John questioned.

“They visit our planet from time to time.” The older girl replied.

“Yeah, and they come in their ships from the sky.” Nara explained.

“They don't look like Travelers.” Cabal said.

“Well, you’re right. We're not. We are friends of the Travelers and we could use some help.” Elizabeth said.

“You should talk with our parents about that. Follow me.” The older girl said.

“Litia!” Cabal said, in a warning tone.

Litia raised an eyebrow at Cabal and turned to John and Elizabeth, smiling. She then started walking and made a sign for John and Elizabeth, to follow her. “Thank you!” Elizabeth said to the older girl. The little girl Nara joined them and a few moments later, so did Cabal.

“How far do you live?” John asked while they were all walking towards the village.

“Not far. Our village is just outside the forest.” Litia replied.

“Listen kids, can you tell us where is your Stargate?” John said. “It’s very important that we contact our friends as soon as possible.”

“Stargate?” Litia said with a questioning look.

“Your Ancestral ring…?” Elizabeth tried to clarify.

"The big black round thing with glowing symbols on it." John described.

“Hmm… I don't know much about that. We haven't used it for some time." Litia said.

"Why not?" John asked.

"I don't know, but maybe mother could tell you more about it.”

“I sure hope so...” Elizabeth smiled.

As they were entering in the village, John began to realise the incredible similarities between this village, and another one, him and his team had visited once; the one in which he actually ended up killing Kolya.

A few moments later John and Elizabeth were talking to the leader of the village, a woman called Maliana.

“We welcome you to our village. All friends of the Travelers are our friends as well. Please, come inside and tell me more about your predicament.” The leader greeted, inviting both of them to seat.

“Thank you. We’re sorry to bother you like this, but we had a few problems with our ship.” Elizabeth started to explain. “We were contacted by the Travelers and asked to help them with this ship they recently discovered...”

After some time...

"... and that is how we ended up crashing here." Elizabeth finished.

“I see... That was quite a dangerous adventure you had.” Mailana said.

“Yes, and now we’re in need of some assistance.” Elizabeth continued.

“I am sorry, but I am not sure what exactly we will be able to do for you.” Maliana said.

“We were hoping that you would be able to take us to your Stargate…?” John saw the surprised look on the leader’s face, “… The Ancestral Ring thing…”

“Of course we could, but...”

“Great! Let’s go there right away.” John said widening his eyes.

“Unfortunately, our Ancestral Ring stopped working.”

“Stopped working?” John said surprised and exchanging a look with Elizabeth. “You're kidding, right?”

“I am afraid not. It hasn’t worked for some time now.” Maliana continued. “And if it wouldn’t be for our allies, the Travelers, our situation would be a desperate one.”

“Maliana, I am sorry to interrupt…” A man said entering the room.

“This is my head of security, Sajen.” Maliana smiled. “He’s also my husband.”

Elizabeth and John nodded at Sajen.

“And, yes, Sajen, I will be right there.” Maliana said and then turning to John and Elizabeth she continued. “If you would excuse me, for just a moment.”

Once Maliana left the room, John and Elizabeth were left alone.

“Of all the Stargates in the galaxy, we had to pick one that isn’t working!” John said.

“Well, maybe we could figure out how to fix it.” Elizabeth said.

“Larrin's guys would've probably done it already, if it was something simple...” John grumbled.

"Worst case scenario - we'll just have to wait here until a Traveler’ ship comes by next time." Elizabeth tried to lighten up his mood.

"After all we've been through, I'd gladly sit back and use an excuse for a short vacation, but what if the Wraith get here first?" John pointed out.

"I guess we can only hope that Kytoria will figure out where to find us before the Wraith do." Elizabeth said.

"That is another thing I'm afraid of... The whole ambush was just too much of a coincidence and I fear that there could be a mole on her ship." John said.

"I agree. We should tell her about what happened when she arrives." Elizabeth said.

“Yeah, but first things first. We need to find a way to contact…” He lowered his voice. “…Atlantis, before anything else happens, and then we can try to help these folks with the Stargate.”

“Forgive me.” Maliana said entering the room. “I am sure you both must be feeling tired and hungry.” The leader of the village smiled. “Would you like to join us for dinner?”

“We would like that.” Elizabeth said. “Thank you.”

\--/--

After dinner, the whole village seemed to be assembled around a bonfire, in a way that reminded Elizabeth of an Hawaiian luau. Maliana had insisted for the both of them to spend the night in the village and they ended up accepting it, although John would have preferred to return to the Ancient ship.

Elizabeth smiled.  She was seated in a corner, talking to Maliana. The leader of the village, didn’t seem to mind telling Elizabeth all about their culture and their own experiences with the Wraith, and Elizabeth was trying to pay attention to what she was saying, but somehow, her mind was occupied with other thoughts.

One of them was the Ancient ship and what it implied in what concerned her situation, the other was John and their… kiss. Since they were attacked by the Hive and forced to break their first kiss, they once again started acting on a strictly professional level. But Elizabeth knew John very well, and by the looks he had been giving her all night, he seemed to share her own thoughts.

John was on the other side of the bonfire, talking to Sajen and his two sisters, who seemed quite interested in John. _“It figures.”_ Elizabeth thought to herself.

Maliana, suddenly, stopped talking. Elizabeth didn’t seem to realise it at first.

“Colonel Sheppard seems quite protective of you.” The sound of John’s name, snapped Elizabeth, out of her thoughts.

“Yes, he is in charge of our security.” Elizabeth smiled.

Maliana shook her head and smiled. “Yes, but there seems to be something more than that. If I would harbour a guess, I would say that man over there…” She gestured with her head towards John, “…is in love with you.”

Elizabeth almost chocked on the herbal tea she had been drinking. " Hmm... as well as with every other girl in the galaxy." Elizabeth tried to dismiss Maliana's comment, but deep down, deep in her thoughts, she was feeling confused. A kiss happened between them earlier that day.

Maliana smiled. “Do you know, who he reminds me of?” Elizabeth looked at Maliana, with a puzzled look. “My husband, many years ago.” Maliana smiled.

Elizabeth was finally able to find her voice. “How so?”

“A little after I had become the leader of our people, Sajen was put in charge of my security, as well as of everyone else here on the village. He was actually forced to it when his father, our previous head of security, was taken by the Wraith.”

“I see…” Elizabeth smiled half-heartedly.

Maliana smiled. “After a few months, of us working together, you know, making the decisions that would influence everyone on our village, we become quite close. As a leader, I couldn’t possibly share all my thoughts with anyone, but with time he became my confident.”

Maliana got up from where she was seated, as if to better look at her husband, that was still seated across from them, on the other side of the bonfire.

“Sajen was also the one that would always offer his support and optimism, on our most difficult moments, you know, on those times we were forced to make difficult decisions for the sake of our people.” She smiled and then continued. “And needless to say, he was always there for me, whenever I needed the most.”

Maliana turned to face Elizabeth. “We ended up falling in love.” She returned to her seat, near Elizabeth.

“We knew that due to our positions, we could not be in a relationship, but after a while, we could not continue pushing away our feelings anymore, and so we embraced them.” Maliana smiled.

Elizabeth just listened to Maliana, quietly. She actually didn’t know what to say.

“Also, we realised that our biggest concern, the thought that our people might not agree with our relationship, did not have any reason to be, since in fact the people from our village, were quite supportive, when we announced our relationship publicly.

Million thoughts were running through Elizabeth’s mind. Maliana was now looking at her. “What I am trying to say…”

"I understand... " Elizabeth interrupted. "And in a way, John is very similar to Sajen, but in some aspects... I just don't know... "

“What do you think about putting him to a small test?” Maliana suggested.

"What do you mean?"

“Mother…I need you to come and see this!” Cabal said approaching them, all excited.

Maliana turned to Elizabeth, “I am sorry, but would you excuse me for a moment.”

Maliana, before walking away after Cabal, still added. "Think about what you'd like and tell me when you decide."

Elizabeth remained seated where she was, deep in thought. Maliana’s words were playing in her mind. Somehow what the leader of the village said sounded quite familiar.

\--/--

Elizabeth was standing at the window of her assigned quarters, looking at nothing in particular. The leaders had given each one of them a room in one of the small houses of the village. But Elizabeth couldn't sleep, she hadn't even changed from her Atlantis uniform into the clothes Maliana had kindly provided her, she had just removed her jacket since even at night the planet seemed to be slightly hot. Being alone in the silence of the room, allowed her to go through all the events of the day. Elizabeth's mind was mostly being swarmed now by thoughts regarding the conversation she had with Maliana when the both of them were seated by the bonfire, namely the pertinent remark of Maliana about the possibility of John actually being in love with her. Sure she immediately dismissed it, but why was it bugging her now so much?

Well okay, they had that hot kiss on the ship, but it was something that only her and John knew, and when they kissed, she never thought it could have been something more there than just a kiss shared on an impulse, considering the situation they were in when it happened.

Elizabeth moved away from the window and went to seat down on the bed.  She was feeling confused and right now she didn't know what she wanted or how she should feel, but she knew John more than enough to realize he was a girl-magnet and that he wouldn’t mind what happened, at all. But even though... She tried to lay down on the bed looking up at the ceiling. 

Elizabeth knew that John had always considered her a good friend, and if he thought he had over stepped some sort of boundary here, he would probably be feeling confused right about now. She also knew he would never react on an impulse with her if there wasn't anything more there. She knew he respected her too much, so he would never treat her like any other girl.  

Elizabeth turned on her side, facing the window. The bright moonlight was now flooding her quarters and she could see shadows now forming by the window. 

Elizabeth wondered if what John could now be feeling was something of a more permanent nature, or if on the other hand it was nothing more than a result of an impulse...

\--/--

John had reached Elizabeth's quarters, but was now wondering whether he should knock on her door or not. He decided to walk away and head for his own assigned quarters. When he was about to leave Elizabeth's door opened. 

"John." Elizabeth said, with a surprised look on her face. "I was on my way to find you." She was pleasantly surprised to see him there instead of with one of those other girls.

“I was going to check up on you, but I didn’t know if you're still awake after all the excitements.” John explained.

"Would you like to come in?" Elizabeth said with a tiny puzzling smile, turning and indicating him to follow her. After a moment of hesitation, John followed her inside.

"John, what are our plans for tomorrow?" Elizabeth asked all matter-of-fact.

"First thing I want is to head straight to the Stargate and see what can we do to contact Atlantis." John explained.

"It’s probably our best shot of calling for help and getting out of here. These people are quite welcoming, but they can’t do more than what they already did so far." Elizabeth said.

"That's the plan then." John said. "I will leave you to rest now and pick you up at 07:30."

"John, wait." Elizabeth said when John was making a turn to head for the door. John stopped walking. "We need to discuss a few things about what happened earlier." Elizabeth continued.

"What's there to discuss? We were attacked, we escaped and crash landed on this planet." John said.

Elizabeth tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow at him. "That's not exactly what I am referring to.”

"Do we really have to discuss it now?" John asked. He was beginning to feel a little bit uncomfortable, he knew perfectly well, that Elizabeth wanted to discuss what happened between them earlier.

"Why not? When we get back to Atlantis, we'll probably avoid to discuss it until we start to pretend it never happened. So why not talk about it right here, right now? Unless it didn’t mean anything to you and you want to forget about it?" Elizabeth said.

John was silent for a moment. "Look, I shouldn't have done what I did." John ended up saying. "I shouldn't have kissed you like that. I'm sorry."

He could have said let’s just forget about what happened. Or he could have refused to discuss it and that would be that - case closed. But he didn’t and now Elizabeth wanted to push him in order to make him decide what he wanted.

"You're sorry?" Elizabeth said. John's head snapped at her. "I'm not." She smiled at him.

If she wanted to be with him, she would have to be the one giving the first step, if not, she knew it would never happen, John would never make up his mind on his own.

"You're not..." John almost whispered.

Elizabeth’s flirtation and approval for what John had done was more than clear. But she was also trying to be serious. 

"I'm not sorry for the kiss." Elizabeth finally said. She then smiled at him. Elizabeth approached John and gazed right into his eyes. "But....There's just one thing..."

"We'll have to be careful and discrete." John said smiling.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, keeping her gaze on his eyes. "I'm not your boss anymore, John, though I appreciate the thought." She said with a smile and then continued. "What I wanted to say is that I take these things very seriously and if you're not damn sure you want this you better say it right now!"  

She had time to think about what happened, Maliana’s small test might have helped in the process too, and as such she had to decide if she was willing to try it or not. She was a person who took these things very seriously, and even though she probably wouldn’t mind one kiss, she would want to know if he was taking her seriously before she would go any further with him. John didn’t know what she wanted and she figured she needed to push him, or then just forget about everything. Elizabeth wanted to tell him she was interested, but if he wouldn’t take it seriously and was simply just planning to goof around, she also wanted to let him know that she would kick his ass so hard he would fly back to Earth without a spaceship. The thought actually brought Elizabeth back to the moment she told Dr Kavanagh that she would send him to a very lonely planet.

"Yes ma’am, I'm sure." John grinned and hugged her. Tightly.

It didn’t take long for John to once again descend his lips on her own.

After a moment he pulled away. “Listen, we should really get some rest... I mean - you must be tired by now.” John said looking her in the eyes. He was still standing quite close to her, but then he released her and turning his backs to her, he started walking in the direction of the door.

“Hmm… That depends on how tired you really are, John.” Elizabeth said. John turned back to face her.

“Don’t tempt me. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow and we'll need all the rest we can get.” John smiled, placing a light kiss on her lips.

"I know... I was just joking for a second. Good night, John." Elizabeth said with a childish smile. John then said good night to Elizabeth once more and walked to his quarters.

\--/--

On the next morning, the sun seemed to have risen especially early. John and Elizabeth were ready and they didn’t want to wait any longer so, after receiving indications of how to get to the planet’s Stargate, they started their journey up stream, towards it.

The two were walking carefully for about an hour or so. Almost from the edge of the clearing the ground sloped steeply, and as they climbed up, John was beginning to feel concerned with the long walk they still had ahead of them, since they would have to walk almost constantly under the sun for most of the time, not to mention the rocks that were starting to bruise their legs. They were starting to feel quite bad even though it was still early in the day, so they decided to take a few minutes to rest and drink some water.

The hot sun was beating on the ground ahead of them. They could now see a small path deep cut on the sand at the edges of the stream. Ahead on their right John saw the entrance to a trail, his eyes started moving back and forth over the ground in search of some clue or another.

“I think I have never encounter a planet as hot as this one.” Elizabeth stated.

"After a six months’ tour of flying chopper over the Sahara, you get used to it. Just drink plenty of water and don’t get yourself dehydrated.” He pulled his cantil out of his bag pack and took a sip; the air he sucked into his lungs seemed stifling hot. He then looked at Elizabeth as he walked towards her.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Elizabeth suddenly removed her jacket, she was sweating from the hot sun beating down and was now emerging a small cloth on the water that she would use after to refresh her face and neck.

John could tell that Elizabeth was distracted which wasn't like her. He stared at her and smiled. Elizabeth was already wearing her uniform’s jacket around her waist.

"Maliana told me that hot summer days will soon be felt here on the planet, and that they will celebrate the water festival in a few days.” Elizabeth said.

“A water festival? I wonder if it’s like a beer party by the pool.” John wondered jokingly.

“Well, basically, everyone will take a day off and enjoy swimming and bathing here in the stream." Elizabeth explained.

“I'd like to see that.” John said with a smile.

“Yeah, I bet you would.” Elizabeth said with a bit of a scolding tone.

"One of Sajen's sisters mentioned something about it last night, too. She also mentioned the water seems to have healing properties." John added.

 “Oh really? That sounds interesting...” Elizabeth said.

“Maybe it’s something worth checking out." John was now looking at the stream and then turned to Elizabeth.

"Maybe." Elizabeth said.

“Go for it!” He told her.

“What?” Elizabeth asked him.

“Go for a dive.” John explained.

“It would definitely help me refresh and cool down for a bit.” Elizabeth said smiling while staring blankly at the stream.

“So, jump in.” John said. “I will wait for you here.”

“Maybe some other time.”

“Why not?” John asked her.

“For a start, we need to get to the Stargate. And secondly, I don’t have a change of clothes, and walking through the forest in wet clothes would be...”

“Just leave them on the shore.” John told her.

“You mean, go for a nude swim while you'd be standing guard in the bushes? Cheeky!” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him. “I bet you'd enjoy that!”

 “I promise I won’t look.” John chuckled. "Besides, you didn’t seem to be so shy with me yesterday."

“Fair enough, but that was in my room and after a few festive moonshines. There's also the question what will I use as a towel after the swim?”

“How about the emergency blanket from my backpack?” John suggested.

“And what if someone else arrives?” Elizabeth said with a smile.

“I’ll be sure to warn you in time if I see someone coming.” He then started removing his backpack and pulled out the blanket.

“Still, it’s a bit uncomfortable, knowing this is their common bathhouse...”

“Okay, just give me a second.” He then started removing his vest.

“What are you doing?” Elizabeth asked.

John removed his black T-shirt and after smelling it he handed it over to Elizabeth.

“I figured you’ll need something to use as a swimming suit, just in case someone gets here for a bath.” He started putting his vest on once again.

“Alright.” Elizabeth finally agreed. “Since we're the only ones here, I guess I could go for a quick refreshment, but…”

“I'll keep myself on a comfortable distance.” John gestured to the opposite direction.

Elizabeth started pulling the hem of her red shirt but then stopped.

“Oh, right…. Sorry.” John said smirking and then started walking away. “I'll be checking the perimeter. If you need me, just yell.”

After a few minutes, John was walking towards the place where Elizabeth was swimming, he wanted to check on her. But once he reached the place, he couldn’t find her anywhere. John started calling out her name, since he thought she might have heard him coming. “Elizabeth! Elizabeth, where are you?”

John looked around, but he still couldn’t see any signs of her. But then it seemed he heard something, a little bit further down the stream.

“John… John, I am here!” Elizabeth called out to him, waving her hands in the air.

He turned around and suddenly saw her clinging to her arm for a bit after releasing a small scream.  "I think I got bitten by something on my way out." She said and then moved out of his sight.

Fearing the worst, John started running in her direction. He found her seated on a rock, examining her shoulder. “I found a better place to climb up from the stream a little bit further down from where I got in…” Elizabeth explained. “But now, it seems it wasn’t such a good idea. Ouch...” John could see a small red spot on her shoulder.

John reached for her arm and started to examine her shoulder closely. “Don’t do this ever again!" Elizabeth was all wet, his black T-shirt clinging to her body.

“How bad does it look like?” Elizabeth asked him a little bit concerned.

“Seems it’s just a scratch, but don’t you dare ever scaring me like this again, you hear me?!” John told her while placing his hands on both sides of her head and gazing into her eyes. He then moved her wet hair away from her face and after gazing at her a bit more, he kissed her. John was now lowering them both down on the ground, while he continued to kiss her, passionately.

Elizabeth replied eagerly to his kisses.

“Are you okay?” John sounded serious. He could feel her nod against his neck. “I’m fine. Actually, I am better than fine.” She looked up at him and smiled.

They gazed at each other for a while. He placed his hand underneath her chin and kissed her once. Then John, with a serious tone, told her: “Elizabeth…” he paused. “Elizabeth, I…”

“I know John….” She moved her head slightly to lightly kiss him on the lips. “I know…” She hugged him tightly.

John allowed himself to lose himself on her scent once more. He was now trying to hide his face in the middle of her hair and he embraced her as much as he could, and only hoped that she would be able to read him and understand everything he wanted to tell her, but he honestly didn’t know how.

John took her face in his hands. “Leaving you, of all the people, behind was the hardest….” he murmured.

"And if you didn’t, both you and your team, as well as everyone else in Atlantis would be dead."

"I should've never allowed Rodney to start messing with the Replicators' base code again! If I didn’t, none of this would've ever happened."

"We had to do something to get both the Replicators and the Wraith off our backs. Otherwise, we'd be in far worse situation now."

"I wanted to come back for you... I did everything I could to convince the IOA and Colonel Carter to let me try a rescue mission, but they considered it too high risk."

John had to say these things, because they were bugging him and though he would probably never forgive himself 100% for letting Rodney mess with the Replicators' code, at least he would have some measure of peace now.

“I know, John.” Elizabeth tried to sooth him, playing with his hair and caressing him on the back of his neck and skull. He clung to her a bit more. “I am here now, John, and I am not going anywhere.”

John pulled away from the embrace in order to be able to look at her. He gazed into her eyes, as he tangled his fingers in her hair.

They remained gazing at each other for a while. Elizabeth placed the palm of her hand against his cheek and caressed him tenderly. He was now pressing his lips against her hand.  And he then was kissing her once more, passionately.

When they stopped kissing, John remained hovering over Elizabeth. “You promised you wouldn’t peak!” She said smiling. She hoped her joke would help to light up the mood a bit.

“Ooh, I am just checking the perimeter.” John evil grinned at her.

Elizabeth laughed. “Checking the perimeter, huh?” She leaned back, looking up into his eyes, and smiled.

John turned serious once again and after looking at her for a second with a deep intensity, he closed the space between them, slowly. He wrapped his arms around her, not sure if this was right or wrong, he seized the moment and he kissed her soundly once more. He had this irrational fear that if he closed his eyes, she would disappear.

The last couple of years in which they had worked together, she had meant more to him than anything, but then he lost her. Now, Elizabeth was back and he longed to pull her into his arms and never let go of her again.

Elizabeth could picture it clearly and the vision did make her smile. She pressed her lips to his and he sucked in a surprised breath, but she didn't let go. Smelling him and feeling him, she surrendered. Her arms wrapped around his shoulder, her fingers tunnelling through his hair. The connection was too strong, she thought she'd break. An irrational fear that if she didn't rush, he would disappear. She pressed him closer, she wanted to soothe him, protect him, stand by him and help him fight his secret battles.

John felt her arms embrace him and he tried to let his feelings for her show in the kiss. He was aware of her hands around his neck and shoulders, holding on as if her life depended on it. He smelled her hair.

A few moments later, they had to break the kiss because John started to hear their names being called from afar. John pulled back and straightened himself up, but still remained with his knees bent on the ground and with his hand behind Elizabeth’s head. “What is it?” Elizabeth asked.

“Did you hear something?” John wondered. His voice made her look up and this time Elizabeth also seemed to hear something. “Yes, it sounds like…”

“Ohh, you're here? I am sorry….” Sajen said coming out of nowhere. He was now standing near, looking at the both of them laying on the ground. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He managed to say.

Stunned, Elizabeth looked at John, who still had his hands in her hair, but who was now staring at Sajen.

Maliana’s husband was feeling slightly embarrassed right now. Before him, Elizabeth, who was still wearing the improvised swimming suit, was laying on the ground and on top of her, with his knees bent between her legs was John, gladly with his pants on, but Sajen couldn’t stop noticing he had definitely interrupted something…. important, and he didn't know exactly if he should keep on staring at them or if it would be preferable to back off and give them some space to decide what to do next

Elizabeth started slightly, standing up straighter. John turned to face her, taking in the soft smile she wore as she observed him. His hazel gaze locking with hers as he studied her pretty face, trying to figure out what to do next. Elizabeth pulled on his arm and John broke his focus. She then turned to Sajen who had given them a few moments but that had once again appeared in front of them. “I am really sorry for this.” He apologised once more.

“There’s no reason to apologize, Sajen. We should have found a better spot for... dressing up after the swim.” Elizabeth smiled.

Sajen gave her a somewhat uncomfortable smile. “You see, Maliana sent me to make sure you would find the Ancestor’s ring just before midday.” He then turned a bit and pointed at the sky. “It seems that a storm is coming, so she wondered if it would be wise for the both of you to be around here, outside the village, under these circumstances.”

“How far from here is the Ring?” John asked.

“Not far, probably another half an hour walk.” Sajen guessed.

“Then let’s not waste any more time.” Elizabeth suggested. "If you guys would just excuse me for a minute.” Elizabeth said and went to dress up behind a thick wall of vegetation. A few moments later, she was throwing John’s black T-shirt over the bushes, right back at him. After it had hit him right in the face, John picked it up, exchanging a sort of a silly smile with Sajen.

The three of them were once again following the trail by the stream, that would lead them to the Stargate, and after walking for a few moments, Sajen interrupted the silence. “I know it’s none of my business, but if you would allow me a friendly advice…” John looked at him. “What the two of you were trying to do down there…” he gestured with his head towards the stream. “…you'd be more comfortable doing that in the lake instead of on those rocks.” John was not expecting that…. Or maybe he was… “You might get a nasty scratch on a sharp one when you pick up the pace, if you're not careful."

“Yeah, thanks for…. that.” John said and then turned to Elizabeth. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Elizabeth just raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t say anything. She could tell this society was a very open one, when Maliana suggested to put John under a test on the previously night. The leader of the village had suggested the test after both Sajen’s sisters had expressed their wish of wanting to have John in their beds, and Maliana didn’t seem to have any objections if indeed the sisters would have their wish granted for the night.

Sajen was right, it didn’t take them long to reach the Stargate, from where they had been. They stood there for a few moments looking out at it. A dozen more strides and they would reach the DHD. “So," John said after a moment. _“Let's see how this will turn out.”_ He finished the rest of the sentence only in thought. And he started for the DHD.

Elizabeth bit her lip, impatience bubbling away inside her as she stared at the back of John’s dark head. She was feeling some nervousness for several reasons. For one, she was anxious to know if they would really be able to dial the gate or not. She was hoping they would be able to contact Atlantis as soon as possible, because she wanted to solve her nanites’ problem sooner rather than later, so the faster they would reach Atlantis, the faster they would start studying the Ancient ship. But at the same time she also didn't want to leave yet from this planet, because she wanted to see what John and her next step would be in what concerned them. They had given a huge step with their conversation by the stream, but if they would return to Atlantis now, she knew they would probably not move forward at all, or at least things would slow down considerably.

But of course Elizabeth knew better. She knew that contacting Atlantis, was the right thing to do now, and she would never allow her own feelings to interfere with their safety, no matter what. And as for their – possible - relationship, if it were to work, it would have to work, even if it would mean having John and her finding an isolated tower in the city to where they would disappear for a few hours every day. She smiled at the thought.

Once John reached the DHD, he immediately tried to dial it, but with no success. He then knelt before the DHD and immediately started examining it with his hands. “Damn it!” He exclaimed after a while.

“What is it?” Elizabeth asked, approaching.

“The control crystal has been removed.” John explained.

“What do you mean?” Sajen asked a little bit confused.

“Sajen, there’s a small crystal that needs to be connected to this device.” Elizabeth pointed at the DHD. “And that seems to be missing.”

“I don’t understand...” Sajen was astonished.

“It was removed to prevent your people from dialling out.” John added.

“If I weren’t sure already, now I definitely am.” John said looking at Elizabeth.

“What are you talking about? Who could have done such a thing?” Sajen asked.

“You said the Travelers have tried to fix it before?” Elizabeth questioned.

“Yes…. But…” Sajen said. He was suddenly interrupted by rain that was beginning to fall. 

“We can’t do anything more here, so we better head back to the village.” Elizabeth suggested.

“Agreed, I don’t want us to catch a cold, on top of everything else.” John said ironically.

\--/--

Elizabeth was now fully dressed in the clothes Maliana had kindly lend her while her Atlantis uniform, which had been soaking wet from the rain they ended up catching on their way back to the village, was now neatly hanged near a window drying, or at least trying, since with all the rain and the humidity in the air, it would probably still take a while.

But the dress she was now wearing, was a beautiful one, it reminded Elizabeth of something in between what her old-alternate version had been wearing when they found her on that stasis chamber back in Atlantis and also the clothes the Ancient ladies, who lived inside that time field John had been trapped in, wore. Elizabeth was now wondering what sort of clothes had been given to John and it made her smile.

Elizabeth’s thoughts were interrupted by a light that was now fully illuminating her assigned quarters. “It seems we’ll be having quite a stormy night.” She murmured to herself.

There was a knock on the door and Elizabeth walked to it. “Well!” Elizabeth said when she saw him standing at her door. She couldn’t help but smile at John, not only because she felt happy to see him there, but also at the clothes he was wearing, she was right, he looked exactly the same as the time they had found him inside the time field, minus the beard.

“This brings up some memories, though there seems to be something missing.” Elizabeth said and squeezed his chin between her fingers.

“Yeah…” John said and moved inside her quarters, closing the door behind him. He gazed at her for a moment, observing the dress she was now wearing and then walked close to her, eyes burning. He pulled her to him and without saying another word he kissed her.

“How are you fitting into this whole “native” thing?” His arms around her, and his lips curved into a smile.

“So far, not so bad.” Elizabeth said, looking at him with her arms around his neck.  

“Good.” John said and pulled her once again to him. He started kissing her. She replied eagerly to his kisses.

The rain was pouring heavily outside, but both John and Elizabeth seemed to be oblivious to it. They were way too much focused on themselves to be able to notice anything around them.

John was still kissing Elizabeth, he was now sliding his hands into her hair and deepening the kiss; she seemed to be enjoying it. He guided them both a little bit inside until they were at the feet of the bed located on the opposite wall to the entrance door. 

“John…” Elizabeth was murmuring between kisses.

“Hmm…” John managed to say between kisses and leaving a trail of wet kisses down Elizabeth’s jawline while on its way to her neck.

Elizabeth smiled and placed her hands in the middle of John’s thick hair, scrapping her nails on John’s scalp. He seemed to have enjoyed it, by the muffled sound he released.

They stopped for a moment looking at each other’s eyes, they had reached the feet of the bed. Elizabeth smiled. John then laid her down with aching sweetness, stretching himself out on top of her. He shifted a bit and she then moved back, up the bed and placed her head on the pillows. She then stretched her arms indicating John to join her. He didn’t take much time to accept her invitation and soon after he was hovering above Elizabeth.

“Lizz…?” John sort of asked.

“Shush.” And then she smiled at him before closing her eyes.

A moment later, John was running his hand up and down the side of her body. Her hands were also moving nonstop up and down his back. He dipped his head to bite her, on the curve of her neck.

They were laid on their side and Elizabeth was trying to remove the fabric vest John was wearing. As soon as she removed it, down his shoulders and down his arms, she indicated him that she wanted him to lay with his backs on the bed. He smiled at her and obeyed. She shifted a bit, straddling him and was moving her hands up her body, trying to unbutton her own dress. John batted her hands away, because he wanted to be the one doing so. Elizabeth smiled at him and allowed him to continue with the task.

Once the upper part of the dress was unbuttoned and revealing her bra, he stopped for a minute to enjoy the view in front of him, smirking. Elizabeth smiled at the look John seemed to be wearing now on his face and then, grasping his head in her hands, she pulled him closer so they could kiss again, pressing her body firmly against his.

His hand cupped her nape as she brought her lips to his. He responded to her kiss in more than one way and Elizabeth hold him tightly against her. She broke the kiss and raised her head above his. She loved John’s shoulders and she wanted to see them now bare naked, so she started to unbutton his shirt. Meanwhile Elizabeth could feel that John was getting hotter by the minute. “John….” She called his name. She had now finished unbuttoning his shirt and was now mesmerizing at his bare chest. She pushed him back on the bed once again and kissed him.

John, sliding one hand into her hair, moved the other hand down her spine. Elizabeth couldn’t help the small moan that escaped her mouth. John smiled and then moved his hand once again up her spine and down. Then he stroked her teasingly up her side, lightly brushing the side of her breast. Her breasts that had been longing for attention for what seemed an eternity now. Elizabeth moved up a bit and indicated John that she wanted his mouth on them.

John obediently did as it was asked and after removing the upper part of Elizabeth’s dress, placed his hands on her neck, thumbs reaching her shoulder blades even as his fingers curled over her collarbone. He then moved them slowly down her neck and shoulders, continuing to move them down her arms and finally placing them behind her backs. He unclasped her bra, moving its straps with his fingers down each one of Elizabeth’s shoulders, and once the bra was loose he tossed it away from the bed. Elizabeth smiled and stopped for a moment to look at him, closing down her eyes right after. John licked his lips, mesmerizing at her breasts, and then started nibbling them, while his hands stroked down her sides. “Oh John!”  

John continued his ministration on her breasts which made Elizabeth start rubbing herself against him. She was now losing herself in him. She was scrapping harder her nails against his scalp, making a moan escape now from John’s mouth.

Elizabeth took the chance and pushed him back on to the pillows once more and started moving her hands up and down his chest, playing with the hair in his chest as much as she could. She then moved her hands down his arms then went back to his chest.

John moved up his hands over her hips, along her waist and started slowly pulling her dress down. To make the task easier, John turned them around and was now hovering once again above Elizabeth. The even pressure of his body on hers was soothing to her. He kissed her tenderly, but with a lot of passion, while trying to remove her dress completely. He finally managed to do so, and now with Elizabeth only in her panties, he started moving his hands down her body and in between her legs. When she gasped he turned his head and looked at her. He felt Elizabeth catching her breathe in her throat. With a gentle move he removed her panties.

John then sat back on the bed, his knees bent and his legs now in between Elizabeth’s legs, he moved to unbutton his pants but Elizabeth stopped him. She sat on the bed too, and reached closer to John, her face was now almost touching his and in a swift move she kissed him once more. Elizabeth sucked at his tongue, and her hands slid up his body to fix firmly in the softness of his hair, but she didn’t keep them there for too long, because soon after, her hands moved slowly down his chest, down to his waist, slowly beginning to move downwards… She then stopped kissing him and started looking at what her hands were doing.

She started to undo the buttons on John’s pants, one at a time and placing a kiss on John’s mouth every time one button was undone. When the last button was undone, she smiled at him. He chuckled at her and then climbing out of bed for a moment, John removed his pants and his boxers all in one move.

Elizabeth just sat there on the bed looking at him, her eyes were drawn to the white hairs below his belly and then John climbed up on the bed once more. Her heart started beating a little bit faster.

John positioned himself in a way he was facing Elizabeth, his knees bent on the bed. Elizabeth moved closer to him, rubbing her breasts against his chest, her knees settling on either side of him. His hands flew to the back of her head and he pulled her into him. They started kissing once again and John placing now one hand on Elizabeth’s backs, entered her slowly.

They both hissed in a breath, staring into each other's eyes, moaning at the sensation and Elizabeth started clinging on to him a bit more tightly. John started moving back and forth, with a slow rhythm. Elizabeth gasped after every thrust at first then simply moaned in pleasure. He then looked at Elizabeth who smiled at him. She was bouncing onto him in rhythm with his thrusts. He was thrusting into her gently, increasing his pace. He smiled back at her while caressing her on the cheek. “John….” She leaned her head into his hand, and then he kissed her once more.

Elizabeth whimpered a little as John rolled her over onto the bed, and rose above her. Soon after she was laying on the pillows, her hair spread around her flushed face and her hands moving up and down his back, he began thrusting inside her again, gently at first, then harder, faster, deeper, slowly speeding up. Elizabeth gasped and moaned.

John placed one of his hands behind Elizabeth’s head and the other started moving up and down her side, he was sensing Elizabeth’s breathe changing, which indicated him she was near her peak. He then placed one hand under one of her legs and started thrusting harder into her. She moved her fingers of both her hands through his hair.

The hand John had behind Elizabeth’s head was now at the side of her head, pressed against the pillow, he then moved the hand that had been moving up and down her side to the other side of her head. With both hands now pressed against the pillows, he rose himself a bit above Elizabeth and started thrusting into her harder. He laid his head next to hers, “Lizzy….”, that strange emotion in his chest, such longing and desire that he had to push into her even harder.

He thrusted inside her, hitting the exact right spot, harder and harder. Elizabeth arched against him even as she held him in a death grip with her legs and she heard him groan as her hands moved down his back…

**Author's Note:**

> TO BE CONTINUED…
> 
> *Thank you for reading.* :) :D


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